Name: Shiffali
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Volume-11, Issue-1, January-June 2026
Page Number: 202-209
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19399978

ABSTRACT
Sex work in India is embedded in a richly layered and debatable context, which is informed by the coexistence of legal provisions, socio-economic conditions of vulnerability, and the overarching structural inequalities. While the policy context is not informed by a singular policy perspective, the legal provisions are embedded in a complex array of prohibition, regulation, and selective interventions that co-exist in tension with each other. This article aims to discuss the factors that lead to the involvement of individuals in sex work through the lens of the legal and structural context. This
includes the involvement of poverty, gender dynamics, caste-based marginalization, migration
patterns, the absence of access to education, and the impact of trafficking networks. Additionally, the article aims to discuss the legislative and adjudicatory interventions that attempt to regulate, protect, and at times marginalize the involved individuals. This paper is informed by the doctrinal and analytical research methodology, which relies on the legislative provisions, case law, and literature. This paper argues that the overarching structural inequalities, in conjunction with the inconsistent and fragmented legislative provisions, continue to perpetuate the conditions of vulnerability.

Keywords: Sex work, prostitution, India, Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, structural inequality, legal framework, trafficking, Access to justice; India, Human rights, commercial sexual exploitation, socio-economic vulnerability, gender inequality, caste discrimination, public policy.